Seeing a superhero on the subway makes people more likely to abandon their seats

IImagine commuting after a long day at work on a crowded subway. Exhausted, you slump into the last seat, ready to do a little mindless phone scrolling while stations that don’t belong to you whiz by. Then you notice a pregnant woman standing nearby. Are you giving up your place?

Ok, now imagine that Batman is hiding a few feet away, observing the entire scene. Does this change your answer? According to a new study by psychologists at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, it’s possible, and for a surprising reason.

Published in NPC Mental Health ResearchItalian university scientists described an experiment designed to measure the effects of unexpected events on prosocial behavior, or behavior that helps others or society. In the control trials, a woman wearing an abdominal prosthesis to appear pregnant entered a crowded Milan metro car with an observer who recorded whether anyone gave her her seat. A separate set of trials was identical with one exception: A second observer dressed as Batman entered through a different door of the same subway car.

Researchers found that 38 percent of passengers were altruistic enough to offer their seats without Batman looking at them, but that number jumped to more than 67 percent when the Caped Crusader was present.

Read more: »Crowd physics»

It is tempting to conclude that under the watchful eye of the Dark Knight, people behaved in the best possible manner. Indeed, the researchers could not entirely rule out that Batman’s presence may have “increased the importance of cultural values, gender roles, and norms of chivalric helping.” But after conducting interviews with the do-gooders who gave up their seats, the psychologists discovered an interesting problem: 44 percent of the people who gave up their seats didn’t even spot Batman on the train.

Instead of inspiring a sense of justice, researchers hypothesized, the unexpected event of a person wearing a costume might have raised awareness among everyone in general. “Disruptions to routine can increase awareness of one’s surroundings and increase sensitivity to the needs of others, thereby promoting prosocial actions,” the authors wrote.

It’s this disruption to routine that may have influenced the 44% of people who abandoned their seats without realizing Batman was riding alongside them. Attention, the researchers point out, can be transmitted socially. If you encounter a group of people looking in one direction, you will turn around to see what they are. In the experimental scenario, a heightened general awareness caused by Batman may have spread throughout the subway car, influencing even those who did not see it.

In other words, giving up your seat on the subway is a kind gesture on the part of one person, but dressing up as a superhero? It might just make a train full of people pay more attention.

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Main image: nuvolanevicata / Shutterstock

• Jake Currie

  Published on November 21, 2025

  Jake Currie is a writer based in Brooklyn, New York.